Australian authorities say more Sydney sites tainted with asbestos

Australian authorities said on Saturday asbestos had been discovered in more places in Sydney, including housing estates, as the New South Wales government continued a weeks-long scramble to remove the toxic material from mulch used in public areas.
The contamination was discovered in January when asbestos was found in a playground in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, and subsequent investigations spotted it in recycled mulch near the park, built above an underground road interchange.
Since then, in what is the biggest investigation by the state’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in decades, 32 city sites have returned positive results for bonded asbestos, the agency said in a statement on Saturday.
The EPA said new sites where asbestos had been detected were a public school and park in the city’s north, and two residential estates under construction in Sydney’s south-west.
The University of Sydney had also been identified as potentially tainted and would be tested this weekend, it said.